Had to go to NYC to help my cousin with a move anyway, so we were just looking for a decent room at a fairly cheap price. After getting my bid accepted, I checked out the hotel's website to see what they had for rooms. There were 4 types--suites, kings, queens and doubles. Since my wife would probably shoot me if we wound up in a double, I called the hotel to ask if we could get a king. The gentleman who took my call at the front desk said that he would note my request in the res, but added "Since you booked it over the internet, I can't guarantee anything, since we give our customers paying full rate the best rooms first." So, we haven't even gotten there and we're already getting Pricelined! Well, that was, thankfully, the last mention of Priceline we heard on the trip. When we got there, we again asked if we could get a king room. The agent said no problem, and that it would be ready around 3pm. We gave our stuff to the bellman and headed out. When we came back around 4 and got to our room, guess what? No a/c! The hotel apparently has an older system that didn't like the blackout, and so it didn't restart correctly or whatever. There were several other places in midtown in the same boat, so it was no big deal. Eventually the hotel found a fan for us, and we opened up the windows and were fine. Our room was on the sixth floor facing Park Ave, at the corner of E38th. There was metal plate in the center of the intersection covering a construction hole, which made a bang whenever a car drove over it, but other than that it was nice and quiet all night. The room was clean and well-maintained, no smells or stains or anything else. Looking at the fire escape plan, it appeared that all the rooms on that floor were more or less the same size, about 10x20. The bathroom was on the small side, but the shower was great, with plenty of hot water. There was a bathrobe in the closet that you could wear at no charge, but they wanted $125 if you wanted to take it home! The tv was an older 19" with about 30 channels. In the lobby, there was a small bar/lounge area, but I never saw it in use. So in the end, the staff that I encountered were really nice and helpful, and of course the hotel has a great location, being only a 2 minute walk to Grand Central. The cheapest room rates on the hotel's website during our stay were $129 for a double or queen, and $149 for a king. I wouldn't have stayed here at those rates, but for $80+tax/fees it was fine, and definitely a 2.5* hotel. (PS: I didn't as for, and wasn't offered, any kind of a discount for the lack of a/c. I kind of put it into that act of God category that you have no control over.)
